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TWO persons were killed on Saturday when the police opened fire on demonstrating readymade garment workers, apparently in a bid to bring the situation under control. According to a report published in New Age on Sunday, the entire Saturday morning was marked by repeated scuffles between the lawmen and workers of Nippon Garments. Reportedly, tension had been brewing over the past few days as the workers had not been paid for the last three months. While the management had agreed to settle all arrears recently, the workers found the garment factory closed on Saturday morning, with a notice pasted on the main entrance that the ongoing global recession was hampering the company’s business. The workers claimed that they had worked the previous night without any such indications. Even the police admitted that the factory management had not followed the rules of a lay-off and anticipating negative reaction from the workers had requested reinforced police deployment.
   Quite understandably, the management’s action did not go down well with the workers. Consequently, they started pelting brickbats and at one point stormed the factory premises where policemen had retreated to. This resulted in a severe skirmish and sparked off a series of scuffles spilling over into the adjacent residential areas where the police reportedly shot and beat up many innocent bystanders, women and children. According to reports, the situation turned especially ugly when rumours of deaths, of both policemen and garment workers, spread. The report in New Age confirms two deaths, while there are allegations from the workers that law enforcers have taken away the bodies in order to prevent further tension.
   Similar to previous occasions, the owners have termed this incident part of a conspiracy. The prime minister promptly asked the home ministry to take appropriate measures against the factory management, which suggests that the government may be viewing this as a law and order problem. But it is obvious that the root of the problem is the failure of successive governments to implement the labour law or at least the tripartite agreement. Many factory owners on their part violate their own agreements and almost systematically deprive their workers, which is eventually bound to have such repercussions. Not paying the workers for three months is a good enough reason for them to become violent if they sense that they are about to be deprived. The situation, if one may say so, was rather ripe for such unrest and the factory management aggravated it even further. Blaming it on sabotage and inventing conspiracy theories, as the owners’ association is doing, is just lame.
   The entire unrest might have been easily dealt with through discussions and negotiations between the management and workers’ representative who have large acceptance among the workers. It would be best if their representatives were elected to bargain on the workers’ behalf. The factory management could then speak to the collective bargaining agent before even going to the police for protection. But the owners have actively shunned and discouraged any form of organisation among their workers. Even the most rudimentary form of collective bargaining would prove to be helpful and beneficial for not just the factory workers but also the factories as well as the entire industry in terms of productivity, efficiency, worker retention and competitiveness.

Assurances not enough, time
for decisive actions

THE law minister, Shafique Ahmed, on Saturday asserted that the Awami League-led government ‘believes in the rule of law’ and that ‘there should be initiatives to investigate any kind of extrajudicial killings.’ His assertion is laced with feel-good factors, indeed; however, it is unlikely to inspire any confidence, especially in the politically conscious and democratically oriented sections of society. The reason is obvious. While Shafique and his cabinet colleagues have severally professed the government’s belief in the rule of law, many, if not most, of its actions have suggested otherwise. Similarly, while there have been talks of investigating extrajudicial killings, such talks have hardly ever translated into definitive and demonstrative actions. Meanwhile, extrajudicial killings by the Rapid Action Battalion and other law enforcement agencies of the state have gone on unabated. As of October 31, 118 people have been killed in so-called crossfire, a euphemism coined by the law enforcers for extrajudicial killing, since the government assumed office. In fact, hours before the law minister made the assertions at the inaugural ceremony of human rights training for law officers and legal practitioners, two suspected pirates were killed in a ‘gunfight’ between their associates and the police in the Sundarban east division, according to a report front-paged in New Age on Sunday.
   In line with its pre-election pledge, the government did take a strong stance against ‘crossfire’ or ‘encounter’ in the first couple of months of its tenure. Gradually, condemnation made way for justification, as even the prime minister argued that such killings took place as the law enforcers opened fire in self-defence. What’s worse, one member of the cabinet even went to the extent of saying that extrajudicial killing by law enforcers was necessary to uproot ‘terrorism’ and ‘extortion’. The rule of law stipulates that even the vilest of criminals reserves the right to defend himself or herself in the court of law and that no one, not even a member of an elite crime-fighting unit of the state, does not have the right to play the role of prosecutor, juror and executioner all rolled into one. The rule of law also stipulates that any citizen is entitled to take recourse to law even against the government for infringement on his or her liberty and violations of his or her right. The case of New Age staff correspondent, FM Masum – who was picked up, detained and tortured by the Rapid Action Battalion – tends to indicate the government’s failure on that count, too. While several days have gone by, not only has there been any demonstrable punishment meted out to the perpetrators but also the police have thus far refused to register any case in this regard.
   Hence, the government needs to realise that, until and unless it truly conduct investigations into the extrajudicial killings by law enforcers, identify the perpetrators and punish them demonstrably, no matter how many times the law ministers and his colleagues profess its commitment to the rule of law, it will be viewed by the public as just empty rhetoric – no more, no less.

THE railway is a perpetually neglected sector of the country. And it is also a poorly administered one. A moderately developed railway network was our heritage from the British colonial days but we failed to build upon, expand and modernise this asset even when roads and bridges were being built, newly constructed highways were vastly improving communication and the Tk 3,000-crore Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge was in place. It will hardly bear emphasising that the railway is an inexpensive mode of transport, capable of carrying larger number of passengers than the other roads vehicles and is negligible as a source of pollution. In many countries the railway, be it in public or private control, is the top employer.
   Certain figures will serve to highlight how this old asset has been wasted. The Pakistani rulers in their 23 years rule gave no attention to development of the railway network and the only landmark is the modern station building in Kamlapur. According to railway records, cited in the weekly magazine of New Age last year, in 1969-70 fiscal the railway had 1,643 passenger and other carriages; the number was reduced to 1,416 in fiscal 2006-07. At the same time the number of carriages and locomotives fell. The sector possessed 486 steam and diesel locomotives in 1969-70; in 2006-07 the number of locomotives, all diesel, fell to 284. The rolling stock has been reduced by over 40 per cent from the 1972 benchmark figures and locomotive to wagon ratio remained constant at around 1:33. And the locomotives have passed their intended lifetime long ago. The total length of rail lines has remained constant at around 2,800 miles and the number of stations has fallen from 470 in 1970 to 454 now. The number of districts connected by rail link is 44. In other words, one-third of the districts are not covered by the railway network.
   It can be surmised that a strong lobby of transport companies breathing over the shoulders of planners forced this skewed priority in infrastructure development. But in fairness the authorities are not entirely to blame; the people of the country have demonstrated no love for the railway, in contrast to the people in West Bengal. People are found to agitate for roads to connect their localities, post office, establishment of administrative headquarters, but not for extension of the iron tracks. It was astonishing to find that the rural people made no complaint when ‘Intercity’ trains were introduced in mid-eighties without laying additional tracks with the result that many local trains whose passengers were mostly rural poor were eliminated. This overtly anti-people move was audaciously highlighted as a developmental achievement, and there was no public protest. The romanticism of train journey has no appeal for the people here and when buses and trains are both available for journey to the same destination, the people usually prefer the former. The reason may be that on account of the country’s geography the people had learnt to depend more on river transport. At the same time the transport companies took full advantage of the expanding highways and road network and periodic fair revisions to inflate their profit. The poor quality of management of the railway also weaned passengers. About 2,500 acres of railway lands are perpetually under illegal occupation. Last year when the reforming zeal of the of the military-backed interim government was in full blast, and arrest, incarceration and torture of the wrong people almost became the rule, it was reported that only 50 acres of the usurped lands were reclaimed.
   Poor administration leads to poor maintenance of the assets. Railway sleepers are at many places worn out, tracks are ill-maintained, and the frequency of accidents cannot be accounted for by the small size of the operation and the relatively small load of passengers. In ten years from 1998 to 2008, 97 collisions and 5,196 derailments occurred. In these mishaps 438 people were killed including 72 railway employees. As tracks are not properly maintained, accidents are precipitated and trains are forced to slow down the speed which prolongs journey time and also tends to warp the normal train schedule.
   Too much has been said about the railway incurring losses. It was forgotten that the railway is a service sector and as a service sector it cannot go all out to maximise profit; although, we agree, it should not be perpetually in the red. One reason for the high operational cost is that the railway has to build and maintain its own infrastructure. A transport company does not have to construct, repair and maintain the roads but the railway even has to maintain its own police, its own hospital. And the amounts of losses are not appalling. In recent years the annual losses were estimated to be around Taka 50 crore. Different organisations owe huge sums of money to the railway department.
   The intensifying traffic snarl-up in the city could be eased if suburban railway were introduced. That will require laying parallel tracks (after recovering the stolen railway lands) and construction of tunnels so that road traffic is not disturbed. (Everyday the capital witnesses eight hours of road closure at railway crossings). Even a few moderate expansions like bypasses which could shorten journey time were never carried out.
   When the railway is decaying due to decades of neglect a few civil society leaders are trying to awaken the government to its responsibility to maintain and develop the country’s railway and waterways. A few months ago experts, academics, politicians and green activists called for building a time-befitting rail and waterways network to bring dynamism into the economy. In presence of media persons they launched an organisation ‘Railpath-Noupath Rakkha O Unnayan Jatiya Committee’ which is committed to protecting rail and waterways and their development. The 37-member committee is headed by the noted academician Khan Sarwar Murshed. Murshed observed: ‘Vested interests have long remained active to make the railway department non-profitable. It is the government which should look after the wellbeing of the common masses.’ The need for a pro-people and environment-friendly communication system was emphasised.
   Perhaps the pressure is working. It is good to know that a 20-year plan at a cost of Tk 30,000 crore is being taken up for modernisation of the railway. It is reported that when this programme is implemented even the river-laced district of Barsal will come under its network. A second track will be laid on Dhaka-Chittagong route and some other important routes. Bangladesh will be linked to the 81,000 kilometre Trans Asian Railway Network. This UN-sponsored rail network connects 32 Asia-Pacific countries, is expected to expand regional trade and commerce and is being fondly called ‘Iron Silk Road’. (Wrongly perhaps, as the Silk Road never represented an important and regular commercial traffic although trade caravans did at times traverse this long and inhospitable route).
   The romance of train journey has long eluded the people of this country. There was a time when trains were the subject of folk rhymes and works of fiction were woven in the setting of a train journey. Trains excited the imagination of children and adults alike. Its whistling, whirring and trundling never grated on the nerve; rather they exercised a soporific effect upon passengers. These are forgotten tales. But can they not be revived?